FLAME ROBIN

Silver Xenica and Flame Robin are relatively new additions to the Billy Button range. The inaugural year for these wines was 2017, which was one of the best vintages in the Alpine Valleys in over 20 years with ample spring rainfall, good flowering and fruit set and a long mild ripening period. Flavour development was ahead of sugar accumulation which is a rare thing in Australia in modern times. The overall quality of the vintage was outstanding, but Jo had 2 parcels, a red and a white, that she was so enamoured with she couldn’t bear the thought of blending them. Instead, a new range was born, not a ‘reserve’ range as such, which traditionally denotes the ‘best quality’ parcels but quite simply Jo’s favourite parcel of white and red from the vintage – be they stunning quality or just too unique to blend away. The white is named Silver Xenica after the butterfly that is endemic to the Mt Buffalo plateau and the red is named Flame Robin after the brightly coloured birds that make a home in the mountains of the Alpine Valleys.